The Howling Mountain Pass
by Peanut-Alien-Ninja-Girl
Summary: "You know, they say that a wolf lives in these parts. He protects the good people and punishes the wicked. You are good, aren't you, Sakura?" / Historical Japan AU
1. Prologue: The howling of a wolf

_Nothing is more dreadful than the howling of a wolf._

* * *

The small girl's nostrils expanded and contracted dramatically as she tried to grasp the scent of that place.

It was… _stuffy_.

Yes, though they were fairly close, the mountains were much different from her small village.

The smell of the ocean couldn't reach so high up, and the air there was heavy, moist, with the scent the earth exhaled after long periods of rain. The sunlight she had grown up with and so dearly loved barely peeked through the dense mass of leaves that served as the forest's ceiling. The morning mist that hovered over the sea, gleaming golden in the early light and rolling over the waters like waves was like a specter there, cold and harsh, hiding all the dangers of the woods in its white thicket. That place spoke nothing of her quaint village by the sea. It was dark, gloomy, scary and instilled in her a sense of oppression unlike anything she had felt before.

Mount Kurama was very different from her home, and she didn't like it.

"Sakura-chan" As she heard her name being called, the girl turned her eyes and her attention to the man who stood by her side, a large satchel strapped to his back and a warm smile plastered on his face "Are you scared?"

She shook her head rapidly, making her father laugh. It seemed she hadn't fooled him.

"There is no reason to be scared." He said, giving the first step of their journey across the mountain, and she followed, apprehensively.

She was sure her father would like to think that he could protect her, but Sakura was smart for her age. She knew that the forest was a dangerous place, housing wild animals, thieves and maybe even _monsters_. She didn't doubt his intentions, but she wasn't sure if he could protect her from the things that lurked in that place.

"You know, they say that a wolf lives in these parts" Sakura's fearful eyes snapped up to look at her father, and he smiled gently at her "He's an emissary of the mountain god, the most powerful creature in this forest, and he protects the good people and punishes the wicked. You are good, aren't you, Sakura?"

"Yes, tou-san!" She nodded resolutely and he grinned brightly.

"So there's nothing to fear. The great wolf will watch over us and lead us on a safe journey." Then he paused and scratched his cheek "But… Once we get home we have to make an offering to thank him for sending us off. I mean, _howl_ could we not? Eh?"

He paused to laugh boisterously at his pun, and Sakura giggled in return. She was glad it was just her and her father, because if anyone else was there she'd be too embarrassed to laugh at his jokes. He was past the age of being so playful, and both her mother and she would always chastise him when they were in public, but they couldn't keep from laughing when there was none there to watch.

His humor had more practical uses, though.

Haruno Kizashi was a merchant and he had learned from an early age that maintaining a friendly relationship with his costumers was a must. Unfortunately, they were travelling to the capital with the sole purpose of trading with the Uchiha, and no amount of social skills could help with them. It was a good thing that the Haruno family boasted a good relationship with the clan, having supplied the Uchiha with quality goods for generations.

Sakura was the first and – thanks to an accident her mother suffered when she was a baby – only child of her parents and was taught from an early age to one day inherit the family business, no matter how frowned upon that was. Traveling with her father was yet another aspect of her training and this would be the first time she would meet with such important patrons. From what she had heard, the Uchiha weren't particularly nice, but she hoped she'd get along with them all the same.

Really, they'd better be good costumers, because she would only traverse that mountain for the sake of someone very special. She wasn't welcome there anyway.

"Tou-san" She began tentatively "I thought women couldn't climb the mountain?"

"Just stories." Kizashi shook his head "Besides, to be able to say you're a woman we'd either have to stretch the meaning of the word or stretch _you_!" He laughed and patted her head.

Sakura didn't like the idea of being stretched.

"So I can come here no problem, right?" She grinned hopefully.

He gave her a firm nod and turned his attention back to the road.

"And the wolf won't eat us?"

"No, of course not." Her father spoke, before scratching the back of his head "That is, so long as we don't trip."

"Eh?!" Sakura's eyes were wide as she waited for further explanation, but none came.

"Say, Sakura-chan, how 'bout we race to Heian-kyō?" He grinned at her?

"B-but we could trip!" She was terrified now, but the man paid her no mind and began sprinting down the winding road "Tou-san!"

"Sakura, I'm going to win!" He shouted, now dangerously close to a group of trees that would surely hide him from her view once he passed them by.

The little girl chased after him, emitting shrill cries of both fear and anger. What if they got separated? What if one of them tripped and this 'sending-off wolf' pounced on them?

Sakura was determined to stop her father in his tracks, and so she swiftly removed one of her sandals to throw it at his back. She missed the first, and as soon as she took off the other one, her father was gone.

"…Tou-san?" The little girl jogged to where her sandal had fallen and craned her neck to see if she could see her father around the bend, but he wasn't there "Tou-san!"

Sakura pouted. He was messing with her, that was it. Her father liked his jokes too much sometimes.

"That's not funny!" She shouted to the road, but got no answer whatsoever.

The girl put on her shoes, all the while looking at her surroundings, expecting to see her father pop out of somewhere. Her father or… something else.

Sakura resumed her journey, hands close to her chest and eyes turning to every tree and bush that looked suspicious. The forest had grown eerily silent, and it was all the more scary as she had expecter her father's steps to make some sort of noise.

"Tou-san, stop messing with me!" She called out, her voice distorted with worry. "You're mean!"

'_It's alright, Sakura.' _She told herself _'The great wolf is watching over us. We are good people, so he won't let anything bad happen to us. So long as we don't trip.'_ Then her traitorous mind conjured an awful image.

'_What if tou-san tripped?'_

Now there were tears threatening to spill from her eyes, and every little sound had her darting her head around frantically.

"I-I'll scream." She proclaimed weakly.

The looming pine trees were indifferent to her plight. The birds held only contempt for her fear. The sun didn't take pity on her, refusing to light her way with its bright rays.

She was alone. Utterly alone and nothing would save her.

A tear slid down her cheek and fell to the ground. As Sakura was about to hunch over herself and start crying, a sound made her stop dead in her tracks.

It wasn't like the other sounds of the forests: leaves rustling and birds chirping. It wasn't the sound that she hoped to hear the most: her father's voice, apologizing for the prank and saying that it was all okay now, that he was there and he would protect her.

Sakura didn't like the sound, because it was just like what she'd imagine the voice of that forest to be if it had one. It was dark, deep, guttural, _stuffy _and, most of all, oppressive. She couldn't cry anymore because she felt like whatever had made the sound _didn't want_ her to cry, and not obeying its wishes was simply not an option.

She looked at the place where she was sure the noise had come from. It didn't look like anything was there. How strange…

The sound – a growl, really – came again, conveniently destroying the little sense of security she had gained. A bush trembled, and from behind it a shadow emerged slowly, and its size alone seemed to suck all the little light in the area.

Sakura didn't dare taking her eyes from the figure, but she risked a step back to create distance between them.

The shadow inched closer, its growl like a brewing storm and its form like a mountain, and Sakura felt a bead of sweat sliding down the side of her face. She couldn't move. She knew she should, but her legs simply refused to take her anywhere.

It took only a louder growl for her to snap out of her trance and start sprinting down the path, not really caring if giving her back to the thing was a bad idea.

'Don't trip, don't trip, don't trip, don't trip don't trip don't trip don'tripdon'tripdon'trip…' She chanted in her head, hoping that the mantra would keep her feet from slipping in the moist ground.

She came to a crossroad and took the right instinctively, more concerned in escaping the monster than finding her father.

For whatever reason, her route seemed to displease the shadow, as it suddenly leapt to stand in her way. A scream erupted from her throat before she even realized that crying out at the moment was dangerous. She just couldn't help it.

Sakura turned around and ran in the opposite direction as fast as her legs permitted. She made no sounds other than her steps and heavy breathing, but the tears now fell down her face freely, blurring her vision until all she could see were blobs of green and brown.

The beast was still fast on her heels, and she felt more and more hopeless by the second.

Barely able to recognize her surroundings, she collided with a hard object, the force of the impact strong enough to make her fall.

That was it. That was how she died. Eight was too young to die, especially devoured by a monster, but there was no way of escaping now, and all she could do was hope that it would be painless.

Two arms warped around her and kept her from tumbling to the ground.

"Sakura!" Her eyes were still too wet to make out anything but blurs of color, but she would never mistake that voice.

"Tou-san!" She bellowed, finally giving into the urge to cry loudly "You left me behind, tou-san!"

Kizashi pulled his weeping daughter into a hug.

"I thought you were behind me." He spoke softly, patting her hair.

"No, you ran too fast!" Sakura shook her head vehemently, tears still pouring from her eyes. "That was mean!"

"Sometimes I forget you're this short. I'm sorry." His gentle expression broke into a grin when she started pouting "Well, on the bright side, we're almost at the top of the mountain."

"Really?" She sniffed.

"Yes, I think you could say that _things escalated quickly_." She didn't like his joke, and the man scratched the back of his head under her glare "How about I take you on my back the rest of the way?"

Sakura pondered for a minute and she decided that even if she was mad with her father there was no point in refusing being carried, so she finally nodded in agreement.

Kizashi removed the satchel from his back and strapped it to his daughter's before turning around for her to climb on his back.

"Promise you won't do that again." The girl said, wrapping her arms around his neck with a little more force than she normally would.

"I promise." Her father sighed "You got really scared back there, didn't you?"

Sakura nodded and rested her head against his. Even though she knew her father wouldn't be much help at all, him being there made her feel safer. That and whatever was following her had stopped after she bumped into him.

Maybe her father was stronger than she had given him credit for.

As they walked, there was a moan and the leaves on the treetops shivered, as if scared by the sound.

"What's that?" The little girl hugged him tighter.

"Just the wind." Kizashi assured her in a strangled voice "Sakura-chan, you're suffocating me."

Sakura slackened her grip, but his answer still didn't comfort her. Maybe it was only the wind, but something about it was uncannily similar to a howl.

* * *

Heian-kyō was the capital of Japan during the period of this story. And for those of you who don't know, 'tou-san' means 'father'.The 'wolf' in the story is heavilly inspired on a creature called "Okuri-ōkami".

I'm going to try to make this fanfiction history-compliant-ish, and focus on japanese mythology and have some religious elements. Cross your fingers; I have things to study.

Also, since Kizashi is going to be sticking around for other chapters, I would be thankful if people sent me puns. I am in dire need of them. Get it? Dire as in dire wolf. Heheh

…Someone stop me.

*Edited.


	2. Mount Kurama

*Did some editing to the names for a few reasons. I apologize for the inconvenience.

* * *

It didn't matter that Sakura was already past the age of believing in monsters; nothing could convince her that Mount Kurama wasn't haunted.

She had traveled the mountain pass many times – though not as much recently; the group of monks that lived in the area didn't exactly appreciate women – and not once had she suffered from any ailment aside from sore-feet. Still, she couldn't help being afraid in that place. The atmosphere was as oppressive as it had always been, and she always felt like something watched her there. Besides, she still remembered the time when she got separated from her father.

She had tried being rational about it – after all, she was a child at the time, and after ten years her memory of the incident would have deteriorated some, no matter how terrified she might have been – but she could still conjure the image of the shadow in her mind clearly, as though she had been tailed by it no more than a few hours ago.

Nonetheless, this was the quickest path to Heian-kyō. If one left from her village in the early morning they could finish the trip by evening. It was unfortunate for her that she would have to start in the afternoon.

Kizashi had left to the capital earlier that day, leaving his wife and daughter at home, and in his hurry to leave to the capital he forgot to pack some of the things he had planned to sell on that very trip. Sakura has decided that it would be best if she took the items to him, hoping that if she hurried she would catch up with him on the way.

Her mother didn't want her to go after him and her main reason was that if someone fixed his mistakes he'd never learn from them. Sakura thought that if he didn't know how to pack properly at his age he probably never would, but she didn't voice that opinion. After some persuasion she convinced her mother to allow her to leave on the condition she'd return before nightfall. While she had no intention of disobeying - and not just because she didn't want to get a scolding – she couldn't very well go home just because it got dark. She could only hope her father had taken a few breaks, because she wouldn't go back home until she reached him.

She concluded he hadn't, because otherwise she wouldn't be climbing a mountain at sunset.

Sakura paused to light the lantern she had brought with her while it was still light enough to see. Being able to see also meant that she would be easier to be seen, but she'd take the risk, still too traumatized to risk tripping in that place. If any of the thieves that supposedly lived in that area tried messing with her, the walking stick she brought had more uses than one.

Part of her tried to be brave and even humorous about the situation, but she was really scared.

'In hindsight' she mused to herself 'maybe I should've waited until tomorrow.'

Her main reason for insisting in taking the items to her father as soon as she could was the fear that any of them were destined to the Uchiha. They were all clearly expensive, and among them was the product her father was most known for, pearls. It baffled her that out of all things he would forget these, but that couldn't be helped.

The sun went down quickly, and soon all she had to light her way was the lantern. The mountain was just as she always remembered, and being there still made her feel like she was just a defenseless little girl.

Which she was.

It felt too much like the time she had gotten lost in the woods – _left behind, really_ – only much darker. She felt the urge to turn back and run home, but her staunch resolve to help her father and her fear that she would look like a fool if she did so made her stay on her path.

She wrapped her coat around herself tighter as the chilly wind blew through the trees, a new thought making her tremble with worry. It looked like it would rain that night, and every time it rained at this time of year, it poured. She hadn't brought an umbrella with her because she didn't think she'd need it, but now… Well, if that came to pass, she'd end up cold, soaked, and would lose her only light source to boot.

As Sakura chastised herself for her own stupidity, distracting herself from the fears she previously had, something _rumbled_.

It wasn't the familiar sound of thunder, but she recognized it all too well. It was dark, deep, guttural, _stuffy…_

And most of all, oppressive.

The growl echoed across the forest, but its source was clearly behind her.

All of the sudden she felt like she was eight again, and the sudden realization that her father was nowhere near to help her this time hit her hard.

The sob was caught in her throat, and she willed herself to keep walking. She didn't dare run, partially because she feared this would incite whatever was behind, but mostly because she was terrified of tripping.

Her father did say that she should be fine so long as she didn't trip, didn't he?

Sakura broke out in a cold sweat once she realized she could hear steps behind her. They fell in the same rhythm of her paces, and she could only conclude that was following her was not a mere shadow.

She sped up almost imperceptibly, but the sounds didn't seem to get any farther. There was no doubt that she was being tailed, and she could only hope that it wasn't by a demon. Then again, any other scenario se could come up with wasn't much better.

The image of a wolf came to mind, and she wondered if she'd be able to fence off any wild animals with her walking stick. That didn't seem likely, but she wrapped her fingers tighter around the wooden pole, and she felt a little bit safer.

It was short lived, though, as the wind suddenly picked up, whistling by, rustling her clothes and freezing her to the bone. The woods around her creaked, moaned and wailed under the ruthless assault, and amidst the cacophony she heard a sound she remembered having heard before, only this time she realized it couldn't be the wind.

A howl.

The world felt blurry, almost like a dream. Her body walked in the same pace, yet she could feel her heart thumping in her chest and the blood rushing to her head, making it difficult to think clearly.

Now she knew that her stick would be completely useless, because there was no way she would be able to fight anything in the state she was.

Sakura could only pray that what was behind her would leave her be or… well, that she had a good enough karma to be reborn as something other than a vermin.

But if she was going to be torn to pieces in this life, she probably didn't.

Her mind was so busy coming up with a thousand scenarios that she missed the root sticking from the ground, and her foot hooked beneath it, causing her to trip.

She fell down with a thud, and her lantern went off just after hitting the earth. She lay there in the dark motionlessly, her breath coming out in ragged pants as she felt herself about to panic.

At this point she should've already been attacked by whatever that was following her, but the steps and growling had faded away, as if they had never been there to begin with.

Just as she dared thinking that maybe she would come out of this ordeal alive, a sharp pain in her leg caused her to scream.

Something sunk on her calf, tearing skin and flesh and making blood spurt to the surface and tears spill from her eyes. She clawed at the walking stick viciously and swung her arm back with such fury she was certain she was being possessed by something.

The staff hit flesh, and the thing let go of her leg with a monstrous growl that could only belong to a demon.

She fought to crawl away from the beast, certain that this would be her single chance of escaping that encounter, but a new pain blossomed in her calf and she cried out.

Something in her still hadn't lost hope, as her fingers reached out for a protruding root to hang onto, while the monster pulled her away, tearing at her flesh.

For some reason only her gut knew, Sakura twisted her body to face her attacker.

The beast was very doglike, and though she had never seen a wolf before, she knew this was what one must've looked like – except smaller. Its snout was large as the width of her shoulders, and its large red eyes shone with hunger and fury. The sight should've made her give up, accept the fact that there was nothing that she could do, but instead her fist flew forward, hitting the nose of the creature.

The jaws that crushed her leg pulled back, and Sakura, who had been sitting on her rear, lost her balance and fell back, the back of her head colliding with something hard.

* * *

When Sakura regained consciousness, she didn't want to wake up at first. Her eyelids felt heavy and her body warm, which was funny, considering she couldn't feel any covers above her.

She never slept without blankets, and that was certainly a sign that her last memories weren't just a bad dream.

Has she _died_?

That was when she sat up and began looking around wildly. The medium-sized room she was in was not even remotely familiar, and though it was pleasantly warm, it smelled of mold and dust. It felt too strangely real.

Wasn't she supposed to have witnessed some sort of 'light' if she was already aware that she was dead? True, most people shouldn't come to such a realization this early, but most people didn't die being devoured by wolves.

That was the very first stage of the afterlife, and if she had accepted her own death – which thought she had, even though something in the back of her mind wanted to laugh hysterically at the whole situation – that meant that her next step were the visions.

There was one single sliding door in one of the walls of the nearly empty room, and Sakura breathed deeply, certain that her salvation or demise rested behind it.

'_Aren't we dramatic?'_ She heard her own voice jest in the back of her head, and she hissed as if to silence it. Whenever she was scared it seemed like her thoughts split into two, and she could even have conversations with an angrier version of herself, though these were usually short lived.

'_We are going to be reincarnated as a dung beetle if you don't shut up._' She chastised her other-self, who huffed in response.

'_Should've kicked the wolf's ass._' Sakura raised an eyebrow at the suggestion.

'_Great plan._'

The reason why she was allowing the conversation to go on for so long was, she admitted, her fear of facing whatever it was beyond that door. She had heard that people were supposed to encounter apparitions that represented all the vices and virtue of people, some beautiful beyond imagination and some so monstrous they could kill a man who laid eyes on them.

She knew she had to be brave and get up at some point, but she wished she could remain in that spot for a while longer.

'_Are you moving any time soon? We can't just sit around._' Her other-self commented haughtily, and Sakura had to begrudgingly agree.

She used her arms to pull herself up and once she set her left foot on the ground a sharp pain shot up her spine and she fell back down with a scream.

Of all the things she thought she could experience in the afterlife, this sort of pain was not included.

On closer inspection, she noticed that her left leg – the one the demon had bitten – was bandaged. She was surprised she hadn't noticed before, as the fabric was wrapped around her pretty tightly, to the point of being uncomfortable.

That confused her. The wound was something physical, and she couldn't think of a reason for it to affect her if she was dead.

'_Maybe you aren't._' The voice in the back of her mind suggested.

Sakura paused to think over the possibility, and though it didn't seem likely that she would have survived the scuffle the idea was much more attractive than having died.

…Sure, being this attached to her material self was not good, but dying brutally was all around terrible karma, and she was glad she would have another chance.

But that brought up the question of who could've saved her. She had been attacked by a monster, the likes of which couldn't be killed by just any person.

Determined to find what had happened – and, more importantly, to find where she was – Sakura stood up again, this time being mindful of her injured leg. She hobbled to the single entrance of the room, and upon opening the door she came to a dark and narrow corridor that seemed to go on forever. If she followed the path until the end she should end up arriving at the entrance of the building, and from there she could decide where she should go next.

She took a deep breath before proceeding. The place looked like something that came straight out of a ghost story.

The floorboards creaked beneath her feet and she kept her head bowed to have a better look at where she was stepping.

Sakura treaded carefully, too focused on the floor beneath her to examine her surroundings, and she squealed when she bumped against something that was hard, yet not so hard it could be a wall.

As she looked up to see what she had collided with she saw an eye peering down at her, and if she hadn't realized that the other one was covered behind a mass of hair she'd probably have screamed again.

She has bumped into a man, and she felt a bead of sweat running down her forehead when his only reaction was to stare at her emotionlessly. If this was the person who had saved her, she wasn't sure if she felt any safer around him. It was a strange thought, but she wondered if he was even human. He looked normal enough, but something about him seemed out of place.

"Mind your manners." The man's voice broke her out of her line of thought, and Sakura's first reaction was to blush at her rudeness. Pointing out her indiscretion was not polite of him either, but he had spoken so matter-of-factly that it sounded more like an advice.

"I-I'm sorry." She blurted out, lowering her head in an apology. She would have bowed lower, but he was far too close.

The man didn't reply, and she decided to try and pry some answers out of him. "Did you save me?" She asked hopefully, and he studied her for a while longer before finally speaking.

"You were not saved." He spoke walking past her.

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed once he had given his back to her. His response was cryptic, and she wondered what he meant by that.

Maybe her initial assumption had been right?

"So I am dead?" She cried out, her voice strained with apprehension. The question seemed a lot more reasonable in her mind, but she realized she sounded quite silly.

"You are not dead. Although you might as well be…"

"What is this place?" The girl moved from her spot and chased after the man, growing irritated with each of his answers.

"This information will be useless to you." The man spoke with a sigh "Well, it's of no consequence… You are still in Mount Kurama, but you won't be able to leave."

Sakura had only now noticed how unpleasant his voice was. It was familiar in an uncomfortable way, and it made her feel like the walls were closing in on her.

"Why not?" She pressed, and the man paused, resting his hand against something in the wall at his right.

"The only reason you are still alive is because you reek of blood." He replied, and it took Sakura a while to understand the meaning behind his words. The monster that attacked her shouldn't be bothered by blood, but then she remembered she was menstruated, and that was probably what he meant.

But _how_ would he know that?

"You should be thankful as it is." The man continued, pulling at something in the wall and opening a door Sakura swore wasn't there before "Most thieves aren't this lucky."

_Thief?! _She had never stolen a single thing in her life; where did he get the ridiculous idea that she was a _thief_?! And even if he – someone she had never met before – had a reason to think so, how did he have the nerve to accuse her out of the blue?

"Who are you?" Sakura very nearly hissed, not bothering with how rude she sounded.

The man stepped into a room that was would have been identical to the one she woke up in if not for a sliding door in the opposite wall.

"'Demon' seems to be the favored term." His tone was indifferent as he walked to the other entrance, and Sakura pause in her pursuit, wondering what kind of person would speak of something like that so lightly "My birth name has no more meaning, though if you must refer to me by anything" He opened the door, and the sunlight that peeked into the run felt darker and colder than it should have "I am Uchiha Madara."

* * *

**A/N:** So… do you guys like the new cover? I did it. I think it suits the story well enough.

I changed the time of the story (and therefore the places where it happens) because of two reasons: 1- (And it bothers me quite a bit) during the time the story was supposed to be set, there was an epidemic in Japan that killed about 1/3 of the population; and 2- There is comparatively more information on the Heian period, and considering the geopolitical (look at me using difficult words!) situation of Japan this period would be better for the plot than, say, the Edo period.

Heian- kyō is present day Kyoto, and Mount Kurama is a real place, only smaller than what it should be for the purpose I had intended.

Also, as a reply to the anonymous people who commented in the last chapter:

M.M:Thank you! Well, about that... Probably just a few. I have not decided everything, but I think the plot doesn't leave room for all the characters.

Guest: Thanks! I tried to play a game with myself to see if I could guess which user who has favorited the story you are, but so far no luck :)

I feel like I should write more but I'm too tired and I wanted to get this thing out today.


	3. Uchiha Madara

In the dim light of what she assumed to be the morning, Sakura could take a better look at the strange man. He looked both tall and strong (though she suspected that this was partially because of the way he held himself) and his unruly black hair trailed down his back until reaching his waist. She still had to assess his face, but from there the claim that he was an Uchiha didn't seem that far-fetched.

But the strangest thing about his appearance were his clothes. They were unlike any other she had seen members of the clan donning, and that was hardly a compliment. The pants he wore were ripped in several places and there was a huge hole in the yellowed fabric of one of his sleeves. The whole attire seemed worn beyond what any normal person would consider wearable.

She wondered what sort of person would be living in the mountains and wearing only rags. The first thing that came to mind was 'monk', but he clearly wasn't one, so she was only left with 'crazy person'.

Sakura had most certainly never heard of Uchiha Madara. The name didn't even ring a bell, which was odd, as the man had the poise of someone of a high rank, and she knew the names of every important figure in the Uchiha clan.

Still, on the unlikely event that he was someone of importance, she decided she would treat him with more respect from now on, if only for the sake of her family's relationship with the Uchiha.

"I apologize." She spoke softly, smiling even if he couldn't see her "I seem to be a bit lost."

"It's evident." Madara replied before leaning down by the stump of a tree and picking something from the ground. "Maybe this will refresh your memory."

As he turned to face her, Sakura decided that he definitely looked the part. Like the overwhelming majority of the Uchiha he was rather good-looking (maybe even by the clan standards), with sharp features and hard gaze. The lines under his eyes made him look like he never slept, and yet his face indicated that he didn't plan on starting any time soon.

He held out a small pouch in front of himself, the very same her father had stored the pearls in.

When she approached him to receive it, he pulled it over his head, just above her reach.

"That is mine." Sakura explained as politely as she could.

"No, it isn't." His tone was that of someone speaking to a particularly slow child.

"It is." She replied, trying her best to keep her temper in check.

His eyes narrowed dangerously, and Sakura could feel her extremities freezing from the sheer intensity of it.

"I will not hold myself so low as to justify my actions to a criminal."

"My father bought these, they were not stolen." She could feel her self-control beginning to slip.

Madara seemed to ignore her, turning around and walking towards a pile of chopped wood.

Her other self all but seethed, and Sakura shared her sentiment. She wasn't so angry she would do something drastic about it, but she did feel very tempted.

…But as soon as she saw the man lifting a rusty looking axe, this desire completely vanished.

Sakura decided to take in her surroundings. The tall trees that nearly obscured the sky were a testament to the claim that they were still in the mountains, but the sight of what was behind her made her doubt that somewhat.

The building seemed to be made entirely of wood and straw, being simple, rustic and even – she dared say – ugly by most people's standards. However, it was also huge, almost as large as the state of the Uchiha in the capital, and she thought it strange that someone would be able to hide something so big in the mountains, but the thing that caught her attention the most was how several sections seemed to be built in the stone walls and the steep slopes. It didn't look particularly safe.

Madara had said that she wouldn't be able to leave, and the terrain did seem inhospitable… Still, if he had brought her there, there was certainly some way to leave.

"Madara-dono, is it? Thank you for watching over me, it was very kind of you." Sakura bowed deeply, though she suspected the man was too focused on his task of chopping wood to pay her any mind "I will look for a way back home on my own, if I can just get my belongings back."

She thought she had done very well with her request that he give back her things. She had been polite and showed she was thankful, and she was certain her father would be proud of her if he saw her right now. Dealing with money came naturally to Sakura, but the hardest part of commerce was the people, by far. This time, however, she was sure she had expressed herself perfectly, and there was no way he could simply brush her aside.

The sound of metal clashing against wood proved her wrong.

"I don't mean to be any trouble." Her volume went up a notch and her voice became shriller, and she guessed that this time she had been successful in getting his attention, because Madara stopped and rested his tool against the trunk of a tree.

So apparently being loud was more efficient in dealing with him than being soft spoken. Dully noted.

"And yet your original destination was not your home." His tone was casual, but Sakura's eyes widened dramatically.

"How do-"

"You live to the northeast of this mountain with your parents, and you have no siblings." Madara continued as if he wasn't revealing information on her that no stranger should know "Which is for the best, I suppose. Less people to mourn you."

If she had been scared of the man before, she was terrified now. He was more than just a crazy man living in the mountains; he _knew_ things about her. He didn't sound the least bit uncertain, so he couldn't be merely guessing. He somehow knew all those things about her, and Sakura concluded that, strangely enough, she would feel safer if she was still dealing with the wolf.

"Who are you?" It was all she could muster, her mind too focused on coming up with scenarios in which she'd escape in case he suddenly attacked her.

"I thought I had already answered this" the man's posture deflated the slightest bit and his lower lip was protruded in something that wasn't quite a pout, making him look slightly disappointed. That expression was soon replaced, and though Sakura couldn't quite place his emotion, she didn't like the sudden gleam in his eyes.

"You know, they say that a wolf lives in these parts" As Madara began speaking again, his words were so familiar it almost felt like home, but his timbre alone was enough to freeze her to the core. "He's an emissary of the mountain god, the most powerful creature in this forest, and he protects the good people and punishes the wicked. You are good, aren't you, _Sakura_?"

Despite how much they were trembling, somehow her legs didn't cave in, and Sakura was immensely glad for it, as she didn't know if she'd survive the second time she stumbled around… _it_.

She had connected the dots, even with her brain urging her to take a more rational approach. She wasn't dealing with a normal human, rather some sort of demon, and his words from before weren't merely in jest. She had no idea how that came to pass, but there was no way that just any person would have been able to save her from the monster and know so much about her… much less the words she now remembered her father had said to her ten _years_ ago, on the very same day she was chased by the wolf for the first time.

Now she knew what he was.

And he knew that she knew that.

And apparently that pleased him greatly.

"I loathe to think of what this world would become if criminals were allowed to do as they pleased without retribution." He drawled, and Sakura could see the corner of his lips threatening to curl into a smirk "I consider it my obligation to dole out punishment as I see fit, even if it's not equivalent to the crime itself."

"Why didn't you kill me?" Maybe she shouldn't have asked, but something urged her to do so. After all, if he hadn't done so yet, it was unlikely that anything she said would change his mind.

"You are not interesting to me in the current state you are." _'Menstruated'_ she added mentally "As soon as the issue is resolved I'll deal with you."

"You mean eat me." She corrected bitterly.

"Of course." She wondered if he was even trying to hide his enjoyment, because if that was the case, he was failing miserably "But there is no need to worry. You are quite small, so I'm sure I can do you in one bite."

That seemed as good a time to run as any.

"I fear I have overstayed my welcome." She bowed awkwardly and backed away, only to have him advance on her, covering much more ground in a step than she could. Strangely enough, he had a certain grace about himself, and the young woman was surprised she realized that in the state that she was.

"Nonsense." He bared his teeth "I _insist_."

"You can't kill me." Sakura was on the verge of despair, and this was one of her last tactics, followed only by 'begging' and 'crying'. "My family has dealings with the Uchiha."

"The Uchiha are dead." Madara growled, and she was so puzzled by this declaration that she forgot her fear and came to a complete halt.

"No, they aren't."

The man was right in front of her, his figure blocking all the sunlight from her view, and as his eyes locked onto hers, she wondered if his mere presence was able to suck the heat of anything in his vicinity.

"_Explain_." He demanded, and Sakura was surprised that she only then realized that his voice was exactly the same as the monster's, sounding as if it came from the entrails of the mountain itself.

"Th-there's nothing to explain, they just aren't." Sakura's words came out much more defensively than she would have hoped. "My family has traded with them for generations; I can guarantee you that they are alive."

Madara remained impassive, and the girl wasn't sure if she felt frustrated or curious that he was so adamant on his belief that the Uchiha were dead.

She was leaning more towards frustrated.

"I might have something with their seal, actually. If you'd give me back my belongings-"

His eyes narrowed in a glare, causing Sakura to shut her mouth instantly. She was certainly scared of the creature in front of her, but more than that, she was also furious – He wasn't even giving her the chance of explaining! The voice in the back of her head kept shouting about how they should punch the ever loving crap of him, and though she ultimately agreed, she was smart enough to know this plan wouldn't work.

"Get inside."Madara's emotionless voice broke her line of thoughts, and she merely stared at him suspiciously. What if he had grown so angry he had decided to kill her right then, only he had the decency not to do so in broad daylight? "If you wish to show me anything, this is the only chance that I'm giving."

Sakura hurried towards the entrance of the house, not wishing to waste any more time. Her 'host' followed not far behind, with deliberate paces, lagging behind as if to annoy her.

He moved _ever so slowly _to one of the walls of the room, somehow pulling it open and revealing a closet hidden behind it. He reached into the lower compartment and lifted her satchel, just before tossing it to her. Sakura caught the object in midair, rummaging through it just as soon as it was stable in her hands.

Her travel bag was unfortunately too large and too full, and having Madara's gaze on her didn't make it any easier to search for something that could bear the Uchiha seal.

Finally, her fingers grasped a scroll and she grinned in triumph. She knew it would be from the Uchiha, because she wouldn't carry that sort of thing around with her otherwise. She unfurled the paper and showed it to him, beaming with pride on the inside, not only because she had something that could possibly save her life, but also because she remembered she could even read some of the words written in the document.

Madara pulled the item from her hands and examined it, his brows furrowed in concentration, no doubt trying to verify its authenticity.

"It seems you have more uses than I had anticipated." He shifted his gaze towards her, and, for the first time, he didn't look hostile. His eyes twinkled, making him look _almost_ happy. "How would you like to prolong your life?"

_Was he kidding_? Of course she would like to prolong her life; she'd give anything to leave that damn place and return home! Really, what sort of question was that?

"Very much." The answer came from her lips a little drily.

Madara's eyes closed in a smug expression and he lifted the scroll, leveling it with his face.

"I had long thought that the Uchiha had been annihilated, but if my assumptions were wrong there is still much that can be done." The faraway look on his face made it look like he was talking to himself. "Girl, what do you know of the Senju?"

What did she know of _the Senju_? Not much, really. They were of similar status to the Uchiha, but her father didn't trade with them, so she knew nothing besides their name.

She had entertained the idea of not cooperating with the man and brushing aside his question, but she had a feeling this wouldn't be the smartest of ideas.

"Just that they are another clan."

She had thought that Madara would be displeased with her lack of knowledge, but a devious grin spread across his face, and Sakura became more worried than she probably would if he had growled at her.

"So after all…" She had the distinctive impression that his hands were shaking "The path is longer than it would seem."

The amount of sense he made was somehow indirectly proportional to how pleased he was? Because he was clearly happy, and Sakura couldn't make anything of what he was saying.

"Then you will aid me." The man concluded, bringing his focus back to her. He looked much more seriousness now, but Sakura didn't mind; the expression of joy in his face was all around terrifying "If you know nothing of the current state of affairs between the Uchiha and the Senju I-"

"Wait!" She interrupted "Wait a moment. You say that I'm going to aid you… but aid you in what?"

"If you really wish to keep your life you are shouldn't ask questions." He pointed out "But since there is no harm in telling you…"

To her surprise, Madara sat cross-legged on the floor, across from her.

"I wouldn't stand if I were you." He commented, eying her boredly.

Sakura complied as she wasn't one to refuse any sign of hospitality, no matter how shocking its source was.

Then again, she had only known Madara for a few minutes. Her first impression of him wasn't very good, but maybe he would prove to be much kinder than he looked.

Although she doubted that.

"I was killed in the skirmish between the Uchiha and the Senju and buried in this very mountain." The young woman was surprised that he could keep the conversational tone when she was sure her eyes were as wide as saucers. "I can't say for how long I was properly dead, but one day I rose from my tomb like one might rise from slumber, for no apparent reason. Or so I thought."

He paused, as if waiting for her to make any input or gape in awe, but Sakura was much too busy trying to wrap her head around what he had said. She was stuck on the 'I was killed' part. He made a small huff of impatience before proceeding.

"I had believed that my defeat surely meant the extinction of the Uchiha – at least as a military power. There was no reason for me to be brought back to life, except to be given a punishment worse than hell." Sakura frowned at that. What punishment could be worse than hell? "Now I see that the reason to my resurrection was my debt to those clans. More precisely, my promise to make the Uchiha the most powerful of all clans and to destroy the Senju." His eyes then narrowed, staring at her intensely "And I will do so through you."

* * *

**A/N:** So, yeah, no, Sakura can't read in this story, not really.

Replying to the anonymous reviewers from last chapter:

**Guest**(1): Well... I think this chapter covers about all of your questions xD

**Guest**(2): Thank you! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter as well! I think it's probably a little weird, but my favorite so far is the very first.

There was supposed to be more to this chapter, but it was getting really long and I wanted to keep the chapters to about the same length… I'm really bad at that. But there's going to be so much exposition in the next chapter, and I just *groans*

Now, if anyone's interested, here's a little outlook on the culture and mythology and history and shtuff:

The thing about the menstruating is that in the tradition of several cultures and religions it is seen as "impure", and Shintoism takes a similar stance. Madara might be the type to drink his own blood from wounds and laugh maniacally afterwards, but .standards!

I'd like to explain a few things about Madara, or, more precisely, wtf he is. If I were to describe him in two words, they'd be "werewolf zombie", but I'd like to think that the creature I've come up with is a little more complex than that. As I've mentioned before, he's inspired by a creature called okuri-ōkami when in his animal form. The reason why he is sort of alive while also having died is pretty much the same as the traditional idea of a ghost: something kept him bound to this world. However, the creature that inspired me the most in the sense of giving him the ability to interfere in the world of the living so physically (and eating people) is called a Jikininki. In the legend I know (documented by Lafcadio Hearn) a greedy priest was turned into a corpse-eating monster after his dead, and this was my main inspiration for Madara's curse.

Another thing I think it's interesting is that the skirmish Madara mentioned was a battle that_ I think_ really happened (There is so little about the Kofun period I don't even believe anything I read anymore), being called "Battle of Shigisan". The results of this battle were decisive in the implementation of Buddhism in Japan, and therefore marked the definite transition from the Kofun to the Asuka period.

And how Maddie never heard anyone talking about the Uchiha if he likes to listen to people's conversations? Well… I'll say that's just because people don't talk about Uchihas behind their back all that much. It's no joke; talk about an Uchiha behind their back and they'll deck you, use one of your fists to hit you in the face repeatedly and tell you to 'stop hitting yourself'.

Those douches.


	4. Treasures lost

Sakura blinked.

Once, twice, thrice, as many times as she needed to grasp the meaning behind his words. He couldn't have really suggested that she, a merchant's daughter, barely out of girlhood and with only a subservient relationship to his clan would be able to accomplish those goals. The notion was laughable, and she decided that he was just trying to mess with her. Maybe he was like a cat, and liked to play with his food before eating it.

"That's ridiculous." She blurted out, receiving a sharp glare as reply.

"On that much we agree." He retorted bitterly "You are far from what I could have hoped in terms of aid, but you will have to make do."

"But why do you need me? I know the Uchiha, yes, but other than that there is little I can do to help. I'm sure you'd be able to do a better job yourself."

"If I were able to seek the Uchiha myself, I would have done so already." Madara retorted "I cannot leave this mountain, so I need someone I can act through." Well,_ that_ was a good thing to know.

"But I didn't _do_ anything!" She pleaded, bringing her hand to her chest "You said it yourself that you punish criminals; I've never stolen anything in my life, you brought me here for no reason!"

"That is a self-imposed practice, not a vow."

"But-"

"And this has nothing to do with punishment. If you didn't have any dealings with the Uchiha I would have no use for you." Sakura grimaced, cursing her fate, and Madara let out a derisive snort "I hope you're not foolish enough to think you'd leave unscathed if that was the case."

Her mouth was agape for good couple of seconds before she finally managed to stutter her complaints.

"–That's not fair!"

The man in front of her didn't seem the least bit concerned about her opinion, and Sakura had to battle her inner-self to keep from advancing on him – the fact that he likely could wipe the floor with her be damned.

She took a deep breath to calm down and tried to assess the situation. She was convinced that Madara was somehow the wolf that had attacked her, though she decided to stay on the fence about any information he disclosed about his supposed past. If he truly tried to punish the wicked, he probably liked to think of himself as some sort of protector, and yet he seemed to put his own gain above justice. Still, he clearly had some sense of honor, however small, and she was going to capitalize on it.

"If I refuse…"

"I'm sure you'll make a suitable meal." He mocked.

"You attacked me, dragged me here, and want to force me to put my life at risk, while I have done nothing wrong. Do you think that's righteous?" _Please, please, let it work…_

"You claim to have done nothing wrong, but I'm yet to see proof of that." He countered "But I am not unreasonable. If you can perform those tasks, you'll be… _richly rewarded_."

Sakura eyed the man suspiciously, and the corner of his mouth twitched upwards in a smug expression.

"I have been here for generations; do you think I would've spent all this time sitting idly?"

No, no, but she assumed he spent his time snatching innocents to eat.

"You are paying me?" She questioned. Was this the way he found to excuse himself of forcing her into this?

Madara held out his hand, signaling for her to wait.

"Before taking any measure, I must know of the current status of the Uchiha." He was silent for a while, and at first Sakura wondered if he was coming up with a strategy, but as his eyes narrowed, she realized that he was waiting for her to say _something_, but he hadn't been clear, so she had no idea what kind of answer he was expecting to receive.

"Since… the Fujiwara have lost power they have been… better… b-but I-"

"What year is this?" He asked abruptly, and Sakura was glad that he had changed the question to something simpler.

"It's thirty-eight o-one – the month of the monkey, to be precise." She spoke smartly. Sakura had the tendency to show off just a little when she knew something, and she couldn't help feeling smug that she was the one with the answers now.

The man's brow creased, giving him an even sterner appearance. Uchiha, indeed.

But his eyes weren't focused on hers; instead he was looking down at his lap, and she concluded that he was in deep thought.

"It was… three-two-eight-five." Madara muttered, frowning in concentration, and Sakura's green orbs widened at his musings.

"That's over five hundred years ago." She blurted out. Was this the year he was _born_?

With a sudden movement, his head was turned towards her, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

There was a light twitch in his left hand, and coupled with the nasty look he was sending her, Sakura thought he wanted to attack her.

"That long?" He inquired, his face contorted like that of a child that had just drank a rather bitter medicine.

"Five hundred and sixteen." She amended, very much wanting to know what he had in his mind. Whatever it was, it seemed to bother him, and right now she would take any information she could use against him.

Madara's posture slackened, and as he looked up to the ceiling, he seemed to lean back against thin air. She couldn't imagine this being a comfortable position.

It seemed to have been forever until he closed his eyes and the tiniest of smirks surged on his face.

"I never would have guessed so." He mused out lout, before shaking his head lightly.

Sakura had concluded that she found Madara to be a very strange person.

"It seems we'll need to acquire more information before proceeding." He spoke, his tone bored "It's unfortunate that things will take longer to come to fruition, but as I have said before, you will have to make do."

"But if you can't leave this place, how do you know I won't run away and never come back once you let me go?" Sakura wasn't sure what had possessed her to ask this question – it was a stupid thing to do, and she knew that – but she felt like she needed some sort of confirmation.

Madara seemed to think her question was foolish – amusingly so – if his smirk was anything to go by.

"Your question is enough proof that you won't attempt this. That, or you are ridiculously naïve, and if that is the case, I have no use for you. So which one is it?"

His gaze on her burned, and Sakura had to fight the urge to squirm under it, and so she looked down to escape it.

"I… you wouldn't have any guarantee that I would return. It might be bold of me, but I can't help but think you must be hiding something."

There was a pause, in which the man's eyes narrowed, and he seemed somehow larger in her eyes.

"Are you accusing me of trickery?" His voice seemed to echo all across the room, then turn to her like sharp knives.

She really had the worst of lucks. Kidnapping apparently wasn't enough; now Madara seemed to want to kill her for an offense to decorum. She thought it was downright hypocritical of him to be so angry about her being suspicious of him when he had accused her of being a thief, but she knew better than to voice her thoughts.

"I'm not accusing, I'm just wondering why you are doing this." She spoke in a small voice, huddling her shoulders to make herself appear as small as she could. Maybe he would lose interest and leave her alone.

"This should be easy enough to follow." His voice was strained, making it sound as if the suggestion that she could escape was painful. "Without any aid, I won't be able to accomplish my goals. If I'm unable to accomplish my goals, I will remain in this plane of existence. If I remain in this plane of existence, I will naturally need sustenance, and who is a better candidate than… Haruno Kizashi, is it?"

Sakura was certain that if her eyes got any bigger, they'd pop out of their sockets.

She had only known Madara for a few minutes, and yet she felt safe in saying that he wasn't the kind of person who would bluff about something like that, and if he was this monster, she didn't think he'd have any trouble keeping his threat.

Fear was replaced by fury, and this time she couldn't hide it. Her lips twisted into a near-growl, but it didn't seem to faze him in the least.

"You… you have no right to include him in this!"

"He might be harder to digest… I suppose I'll have to chop him up first…" He spoke in a thoughtful tone, and Sakura knew it was meant to mock her, she only didn't understand how someone could be so cruel to make fun of something like that.

She gripped the fabric of her kosode firmly and pulled at it to stop herself from doing the same to the man's locks. A heavy silence fell upon them, Madara watching Sakura impassively, and Sakura gritting her teeth so hard it hurt.

Finally, she decided one of them had to give in at some point, and that clearly would not be him.

"What do you mean by rewarded?"

"That's an awfully rude way to agree to a deal." He spoke, once more making it sound as if she had offended his sensibilities, while it was plain to see that he was just taking some strange form of enjoyment from the situation she was in.

"I apologize, I simply wanted to know what I'd be getting out of this." Sakura replied, aware that she didn't sound apologetic at all.

"I wonder what you planned on doing if that turned out to be a lie." He mused out loud, seeming to be too pleased with himself. He didn't take a long time to make fun of her though, suddenly standing up and motioning for her to follow.

Sakura obliged quickly, if only because she wanted to get all of this over with.

"You will return to me with any information you have gathered before your father passes by this mountain, otherwise I'll assume you went back on our deal, and I intend on keeping my promise." His words made her grimace. She didn't doubt him, but she wished he would stop saying this.

"What if I can't find anything?"

"I'm certain you'll manage to find something." But if his voice was anything to go by, he was annoyed by the prospective "Come one way or another, and don't worry about finding your way back; I'll know when you return, _if_ you return."

"I will return." She spoke with conviction, and Madara sent her an indecipherable glance.

They proceeded through a series of winding hallways, neither of them attempting to strike any sort of conversation, until they reached a nearly vertical wooden ladder, and the man instructed her to go up first.

Climbing wasn't exactly easy in the clothes she wore, but with a little struggle she made her way up, to find a very dark room, and by the looks of it, large too. She could spot a few chests here and there, but nothing in particular caught her attention.

Her guide brushed past her, moving towards one of the walls. She was surprised when he slammed his forearm against a section of the barrier and a couple of wooden boards were lifted, revealing a window. It could have just been tricks played on her by the darkness, but to Sakura it seemed that whoever had projected the house hadn't wanted people to find passages easily.

As he repeated the process a few more times, glorious sunlight lit the room, and she could see various recipients scattered about in the floor and in shelves, in what she could only call a treasure room.

Satisfied with the amount of light, Madara walked towards one of the chests and kicked it in her direction, and she heard the distinct sound of something clicking open as it hit the ground in front of her.

Sakura crouched down to examine the contents of the coffer and her mouth hung open when lengths of colorful silk flowed from inside like water from a spring.

She wasn't sure how much time she spent examining the fabrics, but when she looked up, Madara had already opened several chests, revealing scrolls, fans, bronze mirrors, hair ornaments, vases, lacquered boxes, belts, figurines, jewels, incense burners, crystal balls, inkstones, tapestries and even more silk.

Only after Sakura had properly gawked at everything she looked at Madara, detecting a hint of smugness in his expression.

"I assume they are to your taste?" He sounded honestly concerned, but his eyes twinkled with amusement.

"I wonder where all those things could've come from." This was the best and safest way of accusing _him_ of having stolen things she could come up with.

"Some are things that were left behind when the Uchiha abandoned this place" He replied, running a finger across one of the shelves to check for dust "but most were taken from bandits trying to hide in the woods."

Sakura hadn't expected him to admit this so easily. He might have taken them from bandits, sure, but that didn't mean this didn't make him a thief as well. Well, that didn't matter to her; _She _wasn't stealing anything.

"If I help you… you'll give me all of this?"

"If you are successful, yes." He offered her a curt nod "I have no use for any of this one way or another."

Sakura nodded, not really interested in his reasons for giving her those things, so long as she got them.

"And one more thing" Madara spoke, toying with a comb he had taken from one of the boxes "I expect you to bring me clothes once you return. There is no telling how long this will take and I have little to spare as it is."

Out of all the tasks he had _ordered_ her to do, this was the one she objected to the least, but somehow it bothered her nearly just as much as the prospect of aiding him with the annihilation of a clan that had done nothing against her… though she was fairly certain it was just because he was using the opportunity to rub salt in this one wound.

So, just to not lead him to think she was ignoring him, she nodded in reply. Sakura didn't feel like talking to him anymore, and she was already exhausted from having to process so many bizarre bouts of information in such a short period of time.

"Can I have my things back?" She finally asked, and Madara's gaze fell on her for a fraction of a second, before he tossed her pouch in her direction.

As the young woman examined the contents to check if everything was still there, he decided to speak again "Whether or not you had any part in it, those were definitely stolen."

He was so adamant on this concept that Sakura had to conclude he wasn't just trying to mess with her or use it as an excuse to coerce her into doing his bidding, but he was fully convinced of those words for some strange reason, and she couldn't help but question his reasons "How do you know?"

"They smell like it." He answered plainly, and Sakura deflated at the answer. She knew that animals like dogs had excellent senses, but this suggestion was beyond ridiculous and she concluded that he was just messing with her in the end. "Come, I'll take you to the other side of the mountain."

Not waiting for her reply, Madara walked by her crouched form and climbed down the stairs, quickly disappearing from view.

Sakura scampered to her feet and ran to catch up with him, feeling annoyed at the man, but too tired to dwell on it.

The walk back was in complete silence, and Sakura managed to memorize the order of the turns they had to take from the treasure room to the entrance.

Madara opened the hidden closet and took out her satchel just before pulling a long length of dark fabric.

Sakura was about to walk up to him to retrieve the bag that he had left _so inconsiderately_ on the ground, when she noticed that he was pulling the back of his collar upwards, and revealing…

Once she noticed he was taking of his shirt, Sakura knew should've looked away immediately and focused on forgetting that something like that had ever happened, but her wide eyes couldn't seem to turn away from the sight in front of her, and the voice in the back of her head became louder as more and more skin was exposed, but she didn't sound at all upset about this turn of events.

…This was so wrong.

Despite the fact that she wanted to slap herself for staring, the only thing that truly broke her out of her trance was the sight of Madara's fingers gripping the fabric of his pants and tugging them down – and she was glad that in this situation her common sense came out triumphant and she was able to cover her eyes and squeal as loudly as she could.

"What are you doing?!" The moment of silence that took for Madara to reply felt far longer than it actually was.

"Changing the position of one's limbs tends to destroy whatever clothing they are wearing. I had hopes you wouldn't need this explained to you." He retorted irritated.

"I-I just didn't think-"

"That is plain to see." He sneered, and she gritted her teeth in return. He could be attractive – especially for a demon – but he was _still_ a demon, and one with a very unpleasant character to boot, so Sakura would do well to forget about what she had seen.

"Move." He spoke exasperatedly, and Sakura risked a peek, just to make sure that he was properly covered, and she was glad to find him covered by a long black cloak that exposed only his head. Something in her mind was mourning the change, but the girl quashed those thoughts as soon as they came.

Madara grimaced in the slightest and walked by her to leave the house. Meanwhile, Sakura's feet seemed determinate to stay fixated on the same spot. Her limbs were trembling a little, but with some insistence she found herself able to move again and followed him outside.

She jogged after the man on shaky legs, as he didn't seem to think that waiting for her was in his list of priorities.

As he lead her through the forest, Sakura noticed that he seemed to speed up whenever she got close to him, as if trying to distance himself. Could it be that she had offended him with that scene? Well… she had stared blatantly, then screamed. She probably wouldn't be particularly happy if she had been in his situation.

…The again, she would never just take off her clothes in front of a stranger. And she shouldn't care whether she had offended him, because he clearly didn't seem to mind doing the same to her. In fact, maybe she should try offending him more.

"Halt." A deep voice cut through her reverie like a blade through flesh, and Sakura looked up to find Madara a few feet away, his back turned to her and his arm extended, as if signaling her to wait. "From this point on I cannot continue in this form. If you have something to say, I'd suggest doing so now."

Actually, there was one thing she had thought about, but not thought of saying out loud up until that point.

"How do I know you won't hurt me even if I help you?"

The arm that was extended dropped at his side and he looked at her from over his shoulder. It was clear that the question had sparked his interest, but she couldn't tell if this was good or bad.

He moved from his position and walked in her direction until he was close – uncomfortably so – and he examined her face after something in particular.

"You don't." He spoke at last, and at first Sakura expected there to be more, but he turned around and walked away from her, this time not stopping.

At some point, with each step he took, Madara seemed to get shorter and the only part of him she could see – his hair – seemed to sprawl in every direction around his head. After it became clear that the cloak didn't conceal a man anymore, it fell down.

If the girl had had any doubts, now she was certain as to what Madara was.

The large wolf paused and turned to face her, his large red orbs observing her impatiently.

At this point, Sakura was too tired to be surprised by anything.

* * *

**A/N**

**I'm not really going to give a reply to people who commented last chapter and were logged off, mainly because their messages were praise or requests to update, which I don't mind at all, is just that I see little point in replying to those things, especially after I've already published the chapter. From now on I won't reply to reviews that just say things like "This is great!" or "Please update soon!", but rest assured that this is not because I don't appreciate them (and you can totally keep sending them u.u). I'm really happy to see people enjoying my story, but if all the answers I can give back to you are "Thanks!" and "As soon as possible!", well… this message here for you xD**

…Too late to put a 'Naked Madara' warning? In my defense, if I said that in the start, people would get the wrong idea. At least Sakura liked it. I wish I knew fanfictions where she is just as much of a pervert as Kishimoto has shown her to be in the original series. It makes her more relatable.

Unfortunately, I feel like this chapter went waaaay too fast. I guess I made Sakura accept everything very quickly, but this is one of the things I have to do to make the story flow. If I didn't give my characters a large suspension of disbelief or ignored some of the changes that must've happened in those 5 centuries, the chapters would be just Sakura and Madara yelling "WHAT?!" at each other over and over.

The years in the story follow the Chinese calendar because using the Gregorian calendar would bother me to no end, and that's why they are in the year 3801(which is 1103 in our calendar). I'd like to warn everyone that I took liberties by doing this, cause by the time Madara was alive (like… non-zombie-werewolf alive) Japan hadn't adopted the Chinese calendar yet, but for purposes of practicality, we'll ignore that.

Also, for some reason I like to write the numbers, instead of just using the symbols – probably because I'm a snot.

I feel like I should talk about wolves as they are perceived in old Japan. It seems there is this tendency to give animals some sort of personality and "spiritual meaning" in folk lore – and I don't know if they did this for every type of animal, but in this culture even gnats are supposed to be the reincarnated form of some people, so I don't think this possibility is far-fetched – and unlike most animals such as foxes, raccoons and weasels who were mischievous, wolves were much more "noble". I've read a phrase that went something like "wolf stories are not about good or bad wolves, they are about good or bad people"; there is also a little story that says that once a man met a wolf and this wolf gave the man his brow, and if the man placed it above his own brow he would be able to distinguish "people" from "animals" (good people from bad people).

Oh, and let us talk about the Fujiwara. The Fujiwara were a family that came to nearly control Japan due to an interesting strategy: back in Heian Japan, children were raised by their mothers' families (in particular their grandfathers), so the Fujiwara used their influence to get as many girls of the family turned into empresses, concubines and ladies of the court in general so that they would give birth to the emperor's children and those children would be raised by the Fujiwara, and some of them would eventually become emperors, thus giving the Fujiwara immense power.

I'd also like to point that Sakura is great with numbers, because in the series she is a big nerd, and, worst of all, a math nerd D: (jk, I wish I was a math nerd). Meanwhile, Madara is absolutely terrible at it (even though he can multiply five by five when it comes to trolling the gokage – Yay! Maddie gets a golden star!) – and that bit about his hand twitching was totally him restraining the urge to count on his fingers xD

And omg, is this crackship going well; Madara already threatened to eat Sakura's father. I'm going to have fun with this.


End file.
